SAVING PRIVATE RYAN a review by Josh Schirmer
* * * * * * (6) out of * * * * * (5) ===
"Schindler's List", arguably the greatest movie in film history, knew what it was doing when it told the story of one man who valued life as it should be valued, saving hundreds of innocent Jewish men, women and children for certain doom from the German Nazis that lurked around every corner. It touched every aspect of our emotions; it made us smile and cry at the same moment, and made you not sure why you felt the way you did, only knowing that the way you felt was right. It made you turn your head in disgust as, in cold blood, the non-threatening Jews were shot down. It made you, above all things, question why. It hit the nerve it was meant to hit, designed not to be a movie, but rather, an experience. And this, a World War II movie of some aspect, never even touched the subject of the war.
Steven Spielberg is a master filmmaker, the one who Hollywood turns to if they want the job done right. "Schindler's List" instantly became his masterpiece, showing the world that his lighthearted, family-enjoyable romps (such as the "Indiana Jones" trilogy, "Hook", and the unforgettable "E.T.: The Extra- Terrestrial") were a mere understatement of the work he was capable of doing. The work before "Schindler's List" was undeniably fantastic, an impossibilty for any other director to improve upon. But Spielberg did it. Flawlessly.
"Schindler's List" should be shown in every school, every last History class spanning the whole world around; EVERYONE must see it, to learn, to understand, and most of all, to assure that we do not bury the horrible past that this world has seen. It is, and will remain, the primary teacher of what the Holocaust was really about.
And now, Spielberg has done it again.
This time, he takes us away from the Nazi prison camps, away from the downright horror that millions faced, away from Oscar Schindler's heroics, and puts us in the middle of the war zone. And from the moment the film begins, you will not be able to look away, for it grips you like nothing else and pulls you into the carnage.
This movie, like "Schindler's List", is not meant to be a movie, but an experience. "Schindler" gave us a black-and-white film to bring us deeper into the story, with only minor color (most notably, the parka of a wandering Jewish girl, who journey's aimlessly through the massacre surrounding her). And now, with "Saving Private Ryan", Speilberg uses his expertiece to show us what we have been afraid to picture.
The battles are long, in real time, filmed with handheld cameras chasing soldiers through their suicide runs. It shows what other war movies have been afraid to show: a soldier lays on the ground, his entrails scattering along the beach; a man desperately searching for his arm that he lost in battle; a dying young man whimpering, pleading to go home, to see his "mommy". True emotions of panic and hatred grace the screen, and you will be swept up in all of it, and be angered you are futile to try to stop it, much as the soldiers must have felt during the endless massacre.
I am a fourteen year old child, grandson of a survivor of World War II, nephew to a man who went through Viet Nam. They have only been words to me, places in a history book that happened forever ago, that might as well have been works of fiction. Until now. As "Schindler's List" heightened my awareness of the true horror of the Holocaust, made me sick to think anyone could be so inhumane and cruel, "Ryan" has shown me, truly, that war is Hell. Never again will I think of my grandfather or uncle in the same manner.
"Schindler" was a teacher, one that everyone listened to. And "Ryan" is it's counterpart, to show everyone that WWII, the last "Good War", had nothing good to show. That you can live your life, and try to make a difference, and you end up dead on a beach, screaming for your mother. Tears flow unstoppable during the film; even the laugh lines do not bring too much a smile.
Bring the children, in spite of the rating. Show them what they need to see. To learn. That's what this film is; a teacher. And it give "Schindler's List" a run for it's money. Not an easy task to accomplish.
Even for Spielberg.
--Josh Schirmer josh_phile@yahoo.com
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